Our Own Piece of Paradise
by TheBlazingOptimist
Summary: Josh Mathews and the "Road Dogg" Jesse James have spent six months locked in the Titan Towers vault, with only their webshow and a wealth of terrible wrestling videos for their entertainment, maintaining a love-hate friendship.But, after Josh experiences a scarring nightmare, will it force the pair to reconsider what they have? WWE rare-pair slash, set before Puppet H left. R&R!


February.

That was the month that Mr McMahon had locked Josh Matthews and Road Dogg in a dark room at the bottom of WWE's HQ, Titan Towers, with nothing but a series of terrible wrestling video clips for their entertainment.

It was now July, and there were still no signs of mercy from the immortal Chairman.

From the moment they'd been thrown in, both men had known that it wouldn't be the best existence in the world. Apart from Sunday afternoons, the one period where they were able to air their grievances to the world.

_Are You Serious?_ was both men's answer to staying relevant to the WWE Universe, as Dogg had retired from in-ring combat years ago, and Josh only got a handful of announcing opportunities on Superstars and was considered the only sane man in the announcers team on Monday Night Raw.

At some times, he considered himself the only sane man in the entire business- but then he remembered everything about Road Dogg.

Some would call him a Superstar way past his prime- to Josh, although he knew it was a cliché, he felt he was just getting started. When he checked through Twitter every once in a while, 50% of the messages were begging for Dogg to be part of the commentary team again.

Josh cracked a smile at this. Him and Road Dogg, together at the announcing table. Sure, Jerry and Booker and Scott were good company- Michael, not so much.

Incidentally, many of the tweeters wanting Road Dogg on commentary were also calling for Michael to be sacked in order to make room for him. Cole gave comic relief, that couldn't be denied- but having his partner in his place would bring even more laughs, at least for him. And, oh, the fanfare that would surround Cole's untimely departure would be enormous, as would be the smile that would fill Josh's face when he took his rightful seat next to him.

As he began to lose himself in what could be, he noticed his eyelids growing heavy. In a few seconds, he was fast asleep.

However, what followed was a wake-up call from the calm state he'd been in moments ago. He found himself in the ring, surrounded by cheering crowds, with the announcing table behind him. He was dressed in his old ring gear; in 2001, he tried his hand at actual wrestling, but soon decided it wasn't for him, transitioning into interviews.

His hopes for a victory were riding high, until he looked over and saw his opponent.

_Road Dogg._

"No…" he said to himself. "I can't fight him!"

He then cupped his hands over his mouth, realising what he'd just said. One of the most important rules of wrestling was to never let the opponent see your weaknesses.

_Even if that opponent was your closest friend._

Swallowing his fear, he bounced around, trying to get fired up, but as quickly as he mounted confidence, his wall of charisma collapsed, turning him into a shrinking pile of panic.

"No…" he said again. "I don't want to fight him!" He backed away, curling into a ball against his will.

The crowd looked confused, as did Dogg, and Lillian, the ring announcer.

"Wut da hell is Matthews doin'?" he heard Booker T ask.

"I honestly have no idea." King replied.

"Well," Cole interjected with a certain amount of scorn in his voice, "looks like someone doesn't want to fight tonight."

Josh broke down, shaking his head in agreement with Cole's statement. He turned to his friends at the table. "Please don't make me fight him." He whispered through tears. "Please, please…" He lost all control of his emotions as he pleaded with them.

* * *

"Well, that's all we have time for today on_ Are You Serious? _I've been the D-O-double G, Road Dogg, and he's been No Joshing-"

He stopped, not hearing the familiar chuckle of his right-hand-man.

He turned, seeing that Josh was slumped in his chair with his eyes closed. He wanted to smile, but, noticing how Josh was twitching, was thrown completely off guard. Looking closer, he noticed another, even more alarming thing- tears were rolling down his cheeks.

The younger man tossed and turned. "N-no…" he spoke sadly, choked every second or so by crying, "Please, I don't wanna fight… n-not him…"

Not content with the pain he was allowing his colleague to go through, he got up from his seat, rushing over to his side. Glancing towards the camera, he saw that the red light was flashing brightly; they were still recording.

He didn't care.

The show could be done over. Josh couldn't.

He knelt down, wiping the tears from Josh's face as they fell.

"Josh, Josh…" he called softly. "Wake up…"

He slowly reached out and touched his hand. Josh pulled back, breathing louder and faster, but still fast asleep.

"No!" he cried. "G-get off me! P-please don't hurt me…" He flailed around, and RD held him down in the most humane way he could think up.

"Josh, it's OK. I'm not gonna hurt you." he reassured.

"But... no... no…"

He continued to fail, as Dogg slowly let him go. Once released, his movements became more sluggish, and, eventually, his eyes inched open.

"R-Road D-Dogg?"

He sniffed, tears resting on the inside of his waterline. His cheeks were flushed and red.

"That's me." Dogg replied cheerfully.

Josh smiled. "What just happened?" he asked. "One moment I was in the ring, the next-"

"You're here with me." Dogg finished with a warm smile. "You were dreaming, Josh. I helped wake you up."

"But, I still don't understand." he replied. "It all felt so real… I was in my ring gear, in the ring, in the arena, there were crowds and announcers and commentators, and…"

He paused.

"And what?" Dogg probed.

"You." Josh replied, those unshed tears dangerously close to being let go. "I had to fight you. And…"

He turned to him.

"I couldn't. I just couldn't!"he sobbed.

"Oh, Josh… hey, would you be able to do me a favour?"

"Yeah…"

Dogg got up from where he had been kneeling, and took a few steps, so that he was within reach of his chair. Josh's eyes followed him intently.

He gestured towards it. "Do you think it'd be able to fit two?"

Josh nodded, slowly getting up himself and walking over to Dogg's chair. Dogg sat down just before he got there, but Josh seemed just as happy to settle on his lap.

Sure, the two chairs were practically next to each other, but it always helped to stay close.

He put his arm around Josh's shoulder, bringing him close. "So, you had to fight me in the ring…"

"And I couldn't! I knew I had to, but I just couldn't! I just curled up in a ball in the corner of the ring, I was that scared."

He let out another cry, and Road Dogg pulled him closer. "Ssh… it's OK…"

"No…" Josh interrupted. "It's not OK- it's over, it was just a bad dream… but it scarred me. I'm frightened, Dogg. What if… what if Mr McMahon makes us fight, for real?"

"Josh, buddy… you know full well that'll never happen. Neither of us will let it happen. Even if it gets us fired, we won't fight."

He placed his hands gently on Josh's cheeks, and tilted his head upwards to face him. "And, you wanna know why we won't ever fight?"

Josh nodded.

"It's because we're too damn close."

The two men embraced again, Josh folding his arms around Dogg's shoulders and laying his head down.

"I feel as if I'm gonna start crying again." Josh commented.

"Don't you dare." Dogg replied with another smile.

"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that. I'd never disobey you…" Josh answered, turning so he was straddling his partner. Dogg put his hands on his shoulders to stabilise him.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Dogg asked with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Well, that depends solely on your point of view..."

He leant forwards, angling his head so that their noses were touching. Dogg tensed up at this, but Josh calmed him down quickly, pulling both of them into a kiss. Dogg's brown eyes widened for a second, before fluttering closed. Josh did the same, wrapping his free arm around his head. Dogg's arms slipped around Josh's waist, and the former was pushed into the back of the chair. Their bodies pressed together, and the kiss deepened. Josh allowed his tongue to venture into Dogg's mouth, both men breathing heavily. Dogg ran his fingers through Josh's spiked brown hair as they both rose up, still kissing passionately.

They were both enthralled in the kiss, and didn't want it to end, so much in fact that they were completely oblivious to the person- or rather, the puppet- that had casually walked in on their passionate makeout session and been utterly shocked.

"Wow. I leave you guys alone for a couple episodes, and come back to see you playing tonsil tennis! Sheesh!"

Upon hearing his voice, the two men jumped.

"Puppet H? What the hell are you doing here?" Josh asked nervously.

The Game's felt imposter sighed. "I live here, dummy." he replied flatly. "And secondly, I was never told that I couldn't come into the room in the first place, I never have been. Though on second thoughts, something like that would have been nice this time around..."

"Shut up!" Josh exclaimed, lurching forward. "You have no right to comment on what we do, _no right_!"

Dogg quickly restrained him from going any further. "Josh, sweetie, don't worry your pretty little head about him." he said quietly. "I'll tell him everything that's happened-"

"But, no-"

"It has to be done, Josh. If he knows the facts, then maybe he'll shut up."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then he'll have a lot more than just my mouth to deal with." Dogg replied.

The older man got up, leaving Josh sitting on the chair.

"Right, now, Puppet H... I'm gonna explain the entire thing to you, and you have to promise to be calm and understanding about it..."

The puppet nodded.

Dogg inhaled, preparing to state his case.

"Earlier on, when we were just about to do the closing segment for the show, I looked over to Josh and... he was asleep."

Behind him, the man in question was blushing.

Puppet H remained straight-faced.

Dogg continued, "He was whimpering and stuff, so, I went over to him and… I comforted him. One thing led to another and then…"

"You kissed." Puppet H finished.

Dogg nodded. "And, I just want you to know that, whether we're gay, straight, whatever- that's no reason to look at us any differently."

The puppet nodded.

And then, a few moments, no one said anything. Both men thought they'd finally gotten through to an acquaintance who'd never quite understood them- but this hope was soon broken.

"PFFFFT-HAHAHA! That was the single, most sappy and ridiculous story I've ever heard! Josh, man, what have you turned into, some sort of scared baby who always needs help with everything? And Dogg, dude, where's the macho-ness gone?"

At this, Dogg snapped. "H, I have to stop you there, you got a few things wrong. One, Josh isn't _any_ of those things you said he was." He turned around to look at his lover. "He's a fighter, both inside and outside the ring. And, as for me, yes, I may have developed a bit of ring rust. Yes, this whole experience down here in the Vault with Josh, may have softened me a little. But know this, Puppet H- I always have been, always am, and always will be ready to lay it all on the line for the people I love. And if you didn't know, one of those people is Josh."

It was a glaringly obvious fact, but Josh still found himself shocked that Dogg was being so upfront about what they had.

"And if you're not down with that," he finished, channelling every memory of DX he had, "I got two words for ya- suck it."

Josh felt as if he wanted to start applauding.

Puppet H just stood still, dumbstruck at the lecturing he'd just been subjected to. "Fine," he soon said, barely audibly. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"What was that?" Dogg asked.

"I'm sorry." the puppet repeated, louder and sterner than before. "I should never have judged you two like I did."

"I think we can both forgive you." Dogg replied. Behind him, Josh nodded in agreement.

"Well, anyway, after all that ruckus I better be going. I've got a Sock Lesnar to beat into the ground. Later!"

After that, H ducked away, leaving the two humans wondering who in the hell Sock Lesnar was.

Dogg pulled his hands over his face, clearly exhausted by the emotion he'd just unleashed.

"Hey, Road Dogg?"

The older man turned around to see his young lover sitting in the chair as he'd left him. He got up, walking closer to him and resuming their position, with the younger man sitting on his lap.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything you did for me back there. I never knew you cared about me so much."

"How could I not defend you?" Dogg replied. "I will say this here and now- I have never cared about anyone as much as I have about you."

Josh rested his head lovingly on Dogg's shoulder. "You know, over these last few months, I've really grown to like this place."

Dogg looked around. "Why? Oh wait, silly question."

Josh laughed.

"No, you see, Dogg- when I was first thrown in here, I felt as if my whole life had been thrown out. But then I got to know you, and vice versa- and I really grew close to you. Dear God, what would Rue say if she knew I was doing all this?"

"Josh, I have kids as well as a wife, so it's way worse on my side."

Josh laughed again, before continuing. "You know, six months ago, this was the worst place I could have been. But, now… I dunno, it seems as if this place has become our own piece of paradise. No one can touch it, change it, or do anything to it. It's just perfect."

Dogg nodded slowly in agreement, and Josh paused, gazing deep into the eyes of the man he'd grown to cherish, finally mustering up the courage to say the words he'd been thinking about saying for a long time.

"I love you, Road Dogg."

"Love you too, Josh."

The pair shared a gentle, tender kiss.

"Oh, and, Josh? One more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Call me Jesse next time, OK?"

The younger man smiled. "Sure thing."

_The longer we're down here, the cuter you get._

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was sickeningly sweet. I don't know about everyone else, but I just feel as if whoever comes up with the lines for Are You Serious? is going to great lengths to tease at a love-hate relationship between Dogg and Josh (presuming they have any set lines at all and all that chemistry isn't ad-libbing)**

**For now, this is the only time I'll write for this pairing. I just wanted to do a cute little oneshot to tide myself (and you guys) over until I finish the next chapter of My Treasure, my Pixelface fanfic.**

**As for me doing more wrestling fanfiction, especially along the lines of slash, it's a definite yes (YES! YES!). I'm a big fan of JerichoXZiggler right now, even though the former is "fired" now. I've been formulating a plotline for a oneshot revolving around Y2J's "firing" (but with its real reasons), and Dolph's coping. I know I'm gonna have fun writing that.**

**Also, IT'S MAH BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! I'M TURNING- oh, wait, a lady never tells her age. ;)**

**Soooo, this section is getting sort of long, I'll stop here. Don't wanna become any more of a rambler, hehe. ;)**

**Wishing you a happy life,**

**Blaze xoxo**


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